ohtani's jacket

Do you mean the faces? Vince commentating Shawn Michaels matches was something to behold.

Re: the Mega Powers... I started watching wrestling while Hogan was off filming No Holds Barred, so I literally had no idea who he was until Savage announced him as his partner for SummerSlam. I vividly remember Dibiase making some remark about Hogan crawling out of the rock he'd been hiding under and wondering just who this guy was. The cool thing about Savage is that when he became the Macho King he didn't lose any of the qualities that made you like him as a face. I guess that's because he was a heel who became popular.

It's easy to pick out Ross' flaws, but most announcers get annoying after a while. Walton had his Waltonisms that grate on you after a couple of hundred matches, and Russell would prattle on about the same old stuff, his intonation like a drunken slur. The newest commentator I've been listening to is Roger Couderc, who didn't know anything about wrestling but was unbelievably biased towards the babyfaces. Plus he got into fights with ringsiders and the occasional wrestler.

Some corrections: Gilbert Cesca/Ben Chemoul vs. Anton Tejero/Pierre Anou(sp?) (3/12/65) -- Pierre Anou was apparently called Inca Péruano, and Ben Chemoul should really be René Ben Chemoul. Kader Hassouni/Jean Corne vs. Albert Sanniez/Jacky Richard -- This is rather surprisingly from 9/3/83.

Les Copains (Dan Aubroit/Bob Plantin) vs. Les Blousons Noirs (Claude Gessat/Marcel Mannevau) (5/15/64) "Les Blousons Noirs" were the French version of the 1960 UK rocker subculture, and like the Teddy Boys from the 1950s were seen as hooligans and young thugs. This was a match which never saw the light of day because around the same time some les blouson noirs destroyed the seats at the Paris Olympia during a Johnny Hallyday concert, and the ORTF, the national agency which provided public radio and TV at the time, decided they didn't want to encourage these juveniles by airing a match where they went over. Fortunately for us, the footage was discovered in a drawer somewhere and can see some French catch that was never broadcast. Les Blousons Noirs are pretty tame in terms of heat-mongering, but their cheating was effective. Aubroit and Plantin, with the awesome team name of "the Buddies" bring the lucha-esque moves, and all in all this is another good tag. Bernard Vignal vs. Grand Vladimir (5/15/64) Whoah, Grand Vladimir in the 60s. I've only seen him in 80s footage so it was fascinating to see him so young. This was a nice little forearm smash contest until Vladimir was disqualified. I guess this proves that French Catch had throwaway nothing TV bouts as well.

Early Finlay is awesome, like a superior version of hoodlum Dynamite Kid. Then he adopts the "Fit Finlay" persona and gets a lot crowd heat, but his ring work stagnates for a good decade or so. If you've been watching a lot of 90s Finlay then I think most of that stuff is ultimately disappointing. His WWE run was great, but the 90s European and Japan work lacks psychology. The WCW stuff I'm not sure he can be blamed for as there wasn't the same opportunities to have fantastic television matches as there were in the 80s and first half of the 90s.

What's so contentious about claiming that New Japan is better than WWE?

Teddy Boys (Adolphe Sevre/Robert Le Boulch) vs. Gilbert Cesca/René Ben Chemoul Teddy Boys, for those of you who don't know, were teen rebels influenced by American rock 'n' roll music. The subculture started in London in the 1950s and spread across the UK, and was characterised by an overly macho, gang led philosophy that often led to violent clashes with rival subcultures such as the mods. Because of this violence, the Teddy Boys, along with rock 'n' roll were blamed for most of the social ills of the 1950s. It also meant that a lot of heels in the UK, as well as across the channel, adopted a 'Teddy Boy' look even if it wasn't entirely in keeping with how actual Teddy Boys dressed. In the 60s, it merged with the 'rocker' look and was basically a juvenile delinquent look. Even when you get to the 80s, rockers are still portrayed as heels, which is in stark contrast to the babyface rocker teams in the US. I'm not sure if Sevre and Le Boulch teamed regularly as the Teddy Boys, or if Le Boulch was just Sevre's partner for this particular evening, but Sevre did the Teddy Boy gimmick for years. Unfortunately, the VQ on this footage is terrible with the picture breaking up every few seconds and the tape cuts off before the finish, so it's really only snippets of what looked like a fun match.

Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka (1/22/89) This was the Crush Girls' last big singles encounter before Chigusa's retirement. Not their best match, but it should make it onto the Yearbook fairly easily. Both girls had bulked up by this point and looked more like their post-retirement selves than their ultra-skinny bathing suit days. As always, they were pushing the form and borrowing elements from other styles. Chigusa, in particular, seemed heavily influenced by the UWF style. There was a real emphasis on the knockout as a possible means of victory, which led to some great strike exchanges by Joshi standards. Chigusa did a really cool counter to the giant swing where she punched Asuka in the eye, and a lot of the moves like the dueling pile drivers seemed designed to bludgeon their opponent into submission. The matwork was also fairly tight, however the UWF influence meant the match was a lot more narrow in scope than your typical Crush Girls clash. Depending on your viewpoint, that may be a good thing, but I prefer their sprawling encounters where things are a lot more epic (and messy.) I didn't like the finish here either. Asuka kicked out of a german suplex from Chigusa and was able to counter into a backdrop suplex of her own which she held for a three count, but I thought there was a missing beat where Asuka did something to stun or daze Chigusa first; otherwise, why could Asuka kick out the suplex but Chigusa couldn't? They'd both sustained the same amount of damage, relatively speaking, so it didn't wash. Memorable enough match though, and the crowd heat was what you'd expect.

I do a lot of reading for recommendations, but I rarely participate in any film or music discussions. I don't know how to talk about music and film conversations are too involved. Rugby I talk about on another site, but certainly it's hard to find the PWO of other interests.

For the 80s, you should start with Chgusa vs. Dump and the Chigusa/Asuka rivalry. From there you can determine which style of wrestling you prefer, heated brawls or relentless workrate.

I also have multiple hobbies, but the worst thing about that is I'll be watching a match and suddenly I'll start thinking about a movie or some music and want to pause the match to do a quick search. Oftentimes I watch matches while listening to music to kill two birds with one stone. I also go through cycles where I'll barely watch any wrestling. Then I'll read the boards and get inspired. Without this place, I probably would have given up a long time ago. The strange thing is I don't rate wrestling as highly as my other hobbies yet I spent the most time talking about it. In terms of rekindling the spark, just wait until you're in the mood for some wrestling. In my experience that's better than forcing yourself to watch some.

I was never a strictly heel fan, but I can definitely relate to this. I got into comics right before I started to watch wrestling and I think the initial appeal of wrestling was that it was like a comic book come to life.

I don't know that Malenko was the sacred cow of the 90s IWC. That was Benoit. People were more into Jericho than Malenko.

Vince vs. Austin with one hand tied behind his back was a big deal when WWF won the ratings the next morning. Mankind's HITC spots. Foley winning the title. Halftime Heat. Vince being revealed as the Higher Power. Growing up, the Mega Powers explode, Hogan vs. Warrior, the snake biting Randy and Bret winning the title at Survivor Series '95 were big moments for me.

I like Malenko in short TV matches where he can bust out a bunch of cool shit without much need for rhyme or reason, but who was his best opponent in longer matches? Ultimo?

Arandu vs. Guerrero Negro (Hair vs. Hair) (1988) This is a hair match from Arena Coliseo de Monterrey in 1988. Guerrero Negro you'll be familiar with from his work with Los Bravos. I think I mentioned earlier that he returned to the Coahuila region after the '85 earthquake, but that doesn't appear to be the case as he worked in the Federal District up until 1993 and was rumoured to have been doing the La Avispa gimmick in AAA after that. Arandu was a Monterrey regular who was based in Eagle Pass, Texas just across the border from his hometown of Piedras Negras, Coahuila. In the States, he worked for Joe Blanchard's Southwest Championship Wrestling and was a main stay at Arena Valadez where he and his tag partner El Horoscopo headlined shows and trained new wrestlers. He also worked extensively in Southern California and throughout the lucha independent circuit. His main selling point was his hair, which drew strong reactions from crowds and allowed local promoters to book him in apuesta feuds wherever he went He originally wrestled under a mask as Principe Aries before losing it to Jorge Reyes (I believe) in 1981. He then adopted the Arandu gimmick based on the 1970s comic book, Arandú, El Príncipe de la Selva. Arandu's luchas de apuestas record is not well documented, but he had a notable match with Kato Kung Lee in Monterrey in September of 1990 and a hair vs. mask match with La Parka in '95. He still wrestles today in Baja California and has three kids in the business. I believe that Arandu's valet's name was Layla and that she was an American.

The video description makes it seem like Aledo vs. Kidd, but the actual match isn't. George Kidd footage from the 60s is a holy grail, so it was quite a disappointment.

You forgot the Machines, Parv.

Unfortunately, that match is actually Francis Louis vs. Bob Plantin.

Marcel Montreal vs. Jean Menard Another great catch video. This time it was a pair of veterans doing the French take on the rule-bender versus the blue eye. Marcel Montreal was a big thick set guy and a heavy hitter, and Menard was a great heel, a real Cien Caras type right down to the silver hair. The match was a brawl basically with Menard doing a bunch of dirty shit and Montreal retaliating. The parts where they went toe-to-toe were the kind of shit you'd love if you love Fit Finlay. Just real hard-arsed brawling. Menard threw in a chair at the end, which isn't the type of behaviour you usually associate with the Euro style, but I've heard in the halls there was a lot of blood, brawling and gimmick matches away from the prying eye of television censors. Lots of fun this.

Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto (6/89) This was apparently the first singles match between these two. It's a short bout, but full of energy. Manami Toyota has been hands down one of the most interesting things about 1989, though I suppose it helps that I ignore a lot of her short comings. Hokuto wasn't outstanding here, but she struck to her match strategy and it paid off. Nice prelude to one of the more underrated feuds in Joshi.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata (7/26/14) * I haven't enjoyed Shibata's bachi bachi style in the past despite being a big shoot style fan, but I thought it made for a great styles clash here. It helped that I read up about Tanahashi's views on Shibata prior to the match as there was a real tension there that I wouldn't have caught otherwise. * The opening was a little cutesy, but it worked for me. The body of the match was solid. I'm not a huge fan of outside brawling in Japanese wrestling, but I thought the ringside spots were good and the basic narrative of Tanahashi having to avoid the penalty kick and try to neutralise Shibata's kicking power was decent. Shibata managed to vary the strike exchanges so that they weren't all centre of the ring, and I thought his forearms in the corner were great. * Tanahashi going up for the second High Fly Flow was a bad mistake from a kayfabe perspective. You could see that wasn't going to end well. The finish itself was absolutely spectacular. As much as I've bitched about New Japan strike exchanges and as typical a one as it was (this being the "we're out on our feet" version where they're fighting through the fatigue), but the variations on the final strikes were fantastic and the Shibata spinning strike that knocked Tanahashi to the ground was beautiful. The ref was great here as well as it looked like he wanted to call for the doctor. And the set-up for the penalty kick was great. That's how you job in a big wrestling match. Tanahashi's no Misawa, but that was a Misawa style job. * Great match! At least ****. Maybe even **** 1/2 for the excitement levels. Shibata was great in this. Tanashi sold well and as usual the match layout was strong, but Shibata wrestled with so much purpose and really deserved his win.

Tanahashi/Shibata was a great match. That ending was incredible. I can't believe they worked an awesome finish out of a New Japan strike exchange.

Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada, AJW title (12/9/89) I was really quite impressed by this. They went the full time limit, which was ambitious for such young wrestlers, and I was kind of dreading the match length, but apart from the down time during submissions, it was a well paced match with plenty of intensity. Toyota attacked Yamada before the bell and Yamada retaliated by whipping Toyota with her jacket, and that set the tone for an edgy bout that neither girl was prepared to lose. Toyota's selling was inconsistent and there were other problems you'd expect like repetitive spots (though the single leg Boston they kept going back to looked really good), but I loved the ongoing struggle over the waistlock, and again for young girls this was a hell of a performance.